Bucs training camp electrifies Celebration

July 31, 2005|By Elaine Aradillas, Sentinel Staff Writer

CELEBRATION -- The advertisements for Celebration usually boast of its close proximity to several theme parks. But this time of year, the master-planned community itself becomes the area's newest attraction when it plays host to a professional football team.

The National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday checked into the Celebration Hotel, where they will stay for three weeks while they report to training camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Team practice began Friday.

The normally peaceful neighborhood lined with quaint shops and charming restaurants is transformed into a temporary attraction where diehard fans wait to catch a glimpse of their favorite football player.

For the fourth year in a row, the Bucs' players and staff have descended upon the 115-room boutique hotel, which closes its doors to the public for 23 days. The hotel's general manager, Roger Ploum, said the team's visit has become a highlight for the hotel, despite the media circus it creates.

"It's always great exposure for the property," Ploum said. "I'm not sure you can put a price on that."

Ploum's staff prepared the hotel to accommodate a brood of overgrown men.

Most of the lobby's furniture was removed and replaced with an oversized pool table, oversized couches and a giant flatscreen TV. There's a ping-pong table in the back, he said. In addition to the hot tub, used by guests year round, the hotel adds two tubs that are filled with ice for the players after grueling workouts in the summer sun.

"We don't have a lot of demand for the cold tubs throughout the rest of the year," Ploum said. "Some people think this is a vacation for them. All we want to do is make sure they're comfortable."

Across the street from the hotel is a gift shop called Downeast. Kristy Wilson, a sales clerk who lives in Celebration, said the traffic increases when the Bucs arrive -- both outside and inside the store.

Media trucks line the sidewalk in front of the store, and when there's nothing to do, many of the reporters come into the store and look around, she said.

"They [reporters and photographers] bought the hats earlier because it was so hot out there," she said. "The fans will buy the college stuff."

In the back of the store, she pointed to a football that has been signed by players who have come into the store. There is also a rack of extra-large men's shirts that have been specially brought in for the players.

"We have double-X and triple-X shirts in the back," she said. "Hopefully, they'll come in and buy it."

Farther down the brick road, Celebration Town Tavern has fed its fair share of the coaching staff and an occasional player over the years.

Manager Susan Bona said her business increases when the players come, but it's mostly the fans she meets.

"As the manager and part-owner, it's fun to know they're there," she said. "We see a little bit of an influx from people trying to see the Bucs."

Many of the fans who lined the street to get autographs from the players planned to stroll through the neighborhood before they packed up their folding chairs and went home.

Kathy Barner, a fan since 1988, has welcomed players to training camp since they practiced at the University of Tampa before moving to Celebration four years ago.

She came with her Buccaneer fan gear and little else. She was leaving with a sunburn and some Christmas gifts she picked up in the nearby stores.

"They have things here that they don't have in Tampa," she said. She showed off a hamburger cookbook for her daughter-in-law and a Gator lotion dispenser for her son-in-law. "Every time I come, I find a new shop."